- ALDO BLASTS BROWN, BECOMES NEW 145LB CHAMPION

by Damon Martin – MMAWeekly.com, photo by Ken Pishna
He may have been a slight underdog on paper going into his first shot at the WEC featherweight title on Wednesday night, but Jose Aldo took full advantage of his opportunity as he blasted his way through Mike Brown to become the new king of the 145lb division with a 2nd round TKO win, pounding out the now former champ with strikes on the ground.

Patience was the key early on for Aldo, who is traditionally a very fast starter, but he sat back and waited for Brown to engage. The champion didn’t seem to mind standing with the Brazilian, until he got clipped with a big shot mid-way through the first round and immediately shot in for a takedown. Aldo defended well, and spent the remainder of the round trading shots with the featherweight champion.

The 2nd round brought a new animal out in Jose Aldo as he stuffed yet another takedown from Brown and that was the difference maker that saw the fight come to a close. After stopping the shot from the champion, Aldo actually put Brown on his back and immediately moved to mount, forcing the American Top Team fighter to roll and give up his back.

Aldo quickly locked his hooks in, flattening Brown out, and starting to reign down heavy shots that his opponent had no answers for. Power punch after power punch with Brown simply covering up, Aldo continued the onslaught until referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in for the save.

“For me he was a pretty tough fighter, Mike is very strong, I respected him a lot in the beginning of the fight, I had to wait for the right moment to finish the fight,” said Aldo through Pedro Rizzo who acted as interpreter for the new champion. “When I found the space, I threw all the punches.”

Showing off his deadly combination of speed and power once again, Aldo dominated a fighter in Brown, who was widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound champions in the world.

“He had a great night, he was landing the shots and I wasn’t,” Brown commented after the loss. “That’s how the game is, he’s a great fighter.”

With the stoppage, Aldo becomes the new WEC featherweight champion and undeniably the top 145lb fighter in the world in his 6th fight for the promotion. The Brazilian will now sit back and wait to see if new contender, Manny Gamburyan, could earn the first shot at his title or if the winner of the upcoming bout between former champion, Urijah Faber, and Rafael Assuncao will prove to be the next challenge.